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Angelina Jolie's mission of orphan-gathering mercy, it seems, is finally complete: Despite a last-minute sprint in which she barely evaded the giant butterfly nets of corrupt Vietnamese adoption officials trying to capture new son Pax Thien in hopes of reselling him to another wealthy celebrity, Jolie managed to board her plane with her precious cargo, safely stowed the child in its urchin-hold, and successfully smuggled him onto the cover of this week's People. The actress exclusively! tells the official in-flight magazine of Air Jolie:

"You can imagine what courage it takes to be in all new surroundings, with new people and a new language," she tells PEOPLE in its new issue. "He is very strong."

But she is committed to making his transition as smooth as possible. "It will take him a while to realize he has a family," she says, "and that his new life is permanent and that it won't keep changing."

Indeed, the transition process is never an easy one, but Jolie has had great success in smoothly assimilating previous ethnic outsiders Maddox and Zahara into the family. The key in this instance will be patiently answering young Pax Thien's every question about his new life, never betraying a hint of frustration that his impish older brother has taken it upon himself to teach the former Pham Quang Sang to ask, "Mommy, what's my name today?" in English, even if immature partner Brad Pitt giggles uncontrollably each time he hears it.

[Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images]